Personally, I wouldn't start walking strenuously until they reach one year old. Short walks wouldn't hurt, but if you're taking three mile walks, I would put it on hold for a while.
To help you keep track of how far you walk, you could get a Pedometer. I use one every time I take mine for walks. They're very nifty.

My 8 week old pups were doing HOURS of hiking (off leash with breaks when they grew tire) and by 4 months were doing long, long walks as much as my adult dogs. I just watch for signs that my pup is tired but basically let them dictate what they do (within reason of course).

We've always let our dogs (pups) be our guide. It depends on terrain, heat, and humidity. I don't let them overexert but they are active animals that love to explore and roam. We just take breaks if they need them, and allow them access to water. I can't imagine waiting until a year. We have several places that they are off leash, Della is almost 6 months, she's been walking a couple miles for over 2 months with breaks.

When Kaiju was four months, we were taking 4-6 hour hikes. He was either off leash or had a long line. He could run, explore, or fall back and rest as he pleased. For a pup, much of the issue is making sure they can take breaks when they need, they aren't doing forced strenuous exercise (like running three miles on leash) and that they stay properly hydrated.

I walk my 5 month old around the block once each day. We walk at my pace which is pretty slow because sometimes I need to stop and correct her if she's not paying attention to me or tugging on the leash. I let her sniff a little but not fully dig in the grass or bushes. She stays by my side or I let her fall a little bit behind if she's looking around but once the leash gets tight I take another step and she usually comes right back to my side now. The first few times were rough, it was like holding on for dear life and we had to stop about every two steps. She's much better now but I found that it helps if no one is in front of us to make her want to chase.

She's 5 months now so I only walk her around the block, but next month I'll add another block, and so on. By the time she reaches a year I think I'll start going much further and gauging how tired she gets and at what pace she wants to walk at. I'll start doing off leash hikes on the weekends and slow jogging (I can't run fast anymore) as well.

The key is to watch them and make sure you aren't pushing them. Keep an eye on their stride to make sure they walk the same from start to finish and that nothing is bothering them.

Wow, one block for a 5 month old sounds like so little. We were easily doing 4 miles a day by then. I do have a high drive dog but one block. Yikes. I would up the exercise a lot. IMHO

If you're talking about my dog then yes it does seem like too little but I'm being cautious with her. At about 3 months she got very sick from Parvo or Distemper and she pulled through so we kept her inside the backyard and the house until she was done with all the shots. The vet recommended we restart the shot cycle so she got 4 sets of shots before she got the rabies. We just started walking her the week before last, a week after her rabies shot, and we're keeping her to short walks each day so she can be familiar with the area and so we can help isolate anything she might get sick from.

Our vet says we have a high parvo concentration where I live so I'm just taking my time with her. I'll add one block to her walk each month until she's a year.

Speaking of keeping her safe, this morning she had diarrhea and we know she didn't eat anything bad that we gave her so it's gotta be something she picked up on a walk.

I'm looking forward to the days I can wake up before work and take her on a jog. My body needs it just as much as she does

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